During the operation of oven appliances, food can sometimes be spilled onto the interior surface of the oven. Food residue can also be deposited onto the interior surface of the oven from spattering caused by the rapid expansion of water or other gases as the food cooks. In addition, the cooking of food releases fumes that can include steam and various gaseous by-products from the cooking process. While some portion of these fumes are removed by venting to the exterior of the appliance, a portion also typically deposits soil onto the interior surface of the oven and can become a food residue that consumers typically want to remove during cleanup.
The food residues deposited onto the interior, particularly from spills or spattering, frequently include grease and sugars. The temperatures used during cooking can bake the grease and sugar onto the interior surface of the oven, which makes cleanup difficult. Sugars in the food can carmelize above 220° F. and lipids can break down to form varnish above 225° F. After the interior surface is soiled with a food, the soil can melt into the pores in the surface and then dehydrate during cooking. Eventually a hardened residue or varnish is formed that is not water soluble. More specifically, while some residues may be removable by a wipe down after oven cooling, the baked on residue from many food sugars and oils is generally not water soluble and therefore cannot be readily removed by washing with water and the detergents commonly kept in kitchen areas.
Chemical cleaners are available for oven cleaning. Such are generally provided as a spray or wipe that is used to dissolve the unsightly residues. However, these cleaners frequently have an odor that consumers may find unpleasant or otherwise objectionable due to the presence of chemicals perceived as hazardous. Certain self-cleaning ovens may even have specially-treated surfaces that can be harmed by chemical cleaners. In addition, intensive manual labor may still be required even with the use of such chemicals in order to remove the residues.
Modern ovens are frequently provided with a self-cleaning cycle. This cycle uses a high temperature (e.g., >800° F.) at an extended period of time (e.g., 3 to 5 hours). If a proper amount of time is provided, the heat generated at such temperatures burns off or incinerates the food residue. Unfortunately, the time and temperature required for operation of the self-cleaning cycle can consume a significant amount of energy that increases operating costs. In addition, the heat generated by the self-cleaning cycle can warm up the kitchen area, which may be undesirable during warmer seasons of the year where the kitchen area is being cooled by air conditioning. If the self-cleaning cycle is not operated at high enough temperature for an appropriate amount of time, the cycle must either be repeated and/or the amount of manual labor still required to remove the residues from the surfaces will be undesirable to the user.
Accordingly, an improved system for the cleaning of an oven appliance would be useful. More particularly, a system for oven cleaning that can more easily remove soils such as water insoluble grease and sugar residues from the interior surface of the oven is desirable. Such a system that can also avoid the use of undesirable chemical cleaners and operate with less energy consumption than a conventional oven self-cleaning cycle would be beneficial.